durbin seems ready to deal, but he seems to be somewhat lopely -- lonely position. reid, his boss, and republicans stumbling around trying to distinguish between raising revenue, tax rates, and how much the federal government should spend. does the republican party have a message that anyone can understand here or that resinates? joining us now, senior writer for the weekly standard, and the republican national committee communications direct. great to have you both here. going first to the negotiations, both sides acknowledging they are not making any progress. where are we to look for leadership down there? >> you know, lou, it's a great question. i think the speaker, after the election, came out the next day and said we're willing to talk about adding additional revenue if the goal here is to try to put more money on the table. there's ways, closing loopholes, growing the economy that we can do that. let's face it. it's a revenue problem. by definition, a deficit exists because you spend too much, and the president who is the leader of the country, you know, clai